CHAPTER THEMESTheme: The American Revolution was not a radical transformation like the French or Russian revolutions, but it did produce political innovations and some social change in the direction of greater equality and democracy. Theme: Compromise on a number of important issues was required in order to create the new federal Constitution. Adopting the new document required great political skill and involved changing the ratification process defined in the Articles of Confederation, writing persuasively in support of the stronger central government, and promising to add amendments to protect individual liberty and states' rights. Theme: The federal Constitution represented a moderately conservative reaction against the democratic and decentralizing effects of the Revolution and the Articles of Confederation. In effect, it embedded the revolutionary ideals of liberty and popular government within a strong framework designed to advance national identity and interests against the dangers of fragmentation and disorder. CHAPTER SUMMARY

The American Revolution did not overturn the social order, but it did produce substantial changes in social customs, political institutions, and ideas about society and government. Among the changes were the separation of church and state in some places, the abolition of slavery in the North, written political constitutions, and a shift in political power from the eastern seaboard toward the frontier. The first weak national government, the Articles of Confederation, was unable to exercise real authority, although it did successfully deal with the western lands issue. The Confederation’s weaknesses in handling foreign policy, commerce and the Shays rebellion spurred the movement to alter the Articles. Instead of revising the Articles, the well-off delegates to the Constitutional Convention created a permanent charter for a whole new government. In a series of compromises, the convention produced a plan that provided for a vigorous central government, a strong executive, and protection for property, while still upholding republican principles and states’ rights. The pro-Constitution Federalists, generally representing wealthier and more commercial forces, frightened other groups who feared that the new government would undermine their rights and their interests. The Federalists met their strongest opposition from Anti-Federalists in Virginia and New York, but through effective organization and argument, as well as promises to incorporate a bill of rights into the document, they succeeded in getting the Constitution ratified. By establishing the new national government, the Federalists checked the Revolutionary movement, but their conservative regime embraced the central Revolutionary values of popular republican government and liberty.

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...Articles of Confederation were a great start to shaping and unifying our country, but it was just that, a “start”. It needed to take the country as a whole into consideration in order for it to hold this unity in place. The Articles of Confederation led to the Constitution of the United States. Although similar in some aspects, very different in others. The articles had many weaknesses that were changed in the Constitution. There were many compromises made between the states in order to effectively draft the Constitution. Roger Sherman’s Plan kept the Constitutional Convention together which was later known as the Great Compromise. The fight for the Constitution had just begun and the ratification processes needed to take place. Even with some states being in favor of the Constitution it would take time to get the nine states needed to complete this process. The states in favor would called themselves The Federalist and those opposed were called the Anti-Federalist. The Federalist set out to change the mind of the remaining states with a series of letters that were written to newspapers.
The Articles of Confederation were used as a base for the Constitution. The ideas from the Articles of Confederation were used in the writing of the Constitution. Both the Articles and the Constitution established...

...CONFEDERATION AND CONSTITUTION
By:
Instructor:
Comparison between the Articles of Confederation and Constitution
The Articles of Confederation, formally known as the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, refers to an agreement between the thirteen founding states that first formed the United States of America as aconfederation of sovereign states. The Articles of Confederation had served as the first U.S. constitution (Merrill, 1959). The states under the confederation were Virginia, South Carolina, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Georgia, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Delaware and Maryland. In 1787, a constitutional convention was called to revise the Articles of Confederation as they contained so many flaws, which would have fatally affected the confederation (Wendel, 1981). However, the convention ended up abandoning the Articles and drafted a new constitution which had a much stronger national government. After so much tussle and debating, eleven of the thirteen states ratified the constitution which led to the formation of a new form of government for the United States of America (Kermit, 1987). The following are similarities and differences of the Articles...

...﻿Mallory Pineda
AE 1
The Articles of Confederation and United States Constitution are two documents that shaped the U.S. government into what it is today. The Articles of Confederation (AOC) was the first Constitution of the United States. Americans soon realized that this document had to be substantially modified because the U.S. needed a stronger government. The AOC was thought of as an ineffective national government document, although there were some strong points. The AOC was ratified in 1781, and replaced by an improved document known as the United States Constitution in 1789. An unknown person once said, “Perhaps the greatest service rendered by the Articles of Confederation was the impetus its shortcomings gave to those who favored a strong central government.” This is an analytical essay supporting this quote by comparing the strengths, weaknesses, and achievements of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
The AOC gave Congress many powers which included: the right to declare war, develop foreign policy, regulate Native American activity in the territories, coin money, run post offices, borrow money, and appoint military officers. Although the AOC seemed to have a lot of power, there were also several underlying weaknesses and problems that were not initially addressed. As a result the United States Constitution came into...

...Christina Gonzalez
HIST 1301
Chad Wooley
February 7, 2013
AE 1
The national government under the Articles of Confederation had very little power and most power was held by the individual states. Eventually, the weakness of the national government under the Articles led to their replacement with the current US Constitution. This goes to show the difference between the Articles of Confederation and theConstitution. There were many problems under the Articles and much was left out that it caused problems. The government under the Articles of Confederation had a Unicameral Legislature, they needed a unanimous vote to amend Articles, they also needed a 2/3 majority vote to pass legislation, and one vote per state. The weaknesses under the Articles were very easy to define they had no national executive and no national court system. Also the national government was very limited on what they could do. They could not collect taxes, they could not raise an army, and they could not regulate trade. As such, this caused many problems. States began to place tariffs on each of the other state’s goods. This led to a sharp decline in intrastate commerce. Most states deiced to print their own money and the national currency became pretty much worthless. Since the government could not regulate trade other countries placed tariffs and trade restrictions on US goods and the US was not able to...

...Although the states experimented with various models in writing their new constitutions, all of them included some basic principles. What were those basic principles and why were they important?
• How would you explain legislative supremacy and why did most states favor it?
• What ideas drawn from the natural rights philosophy were reflected in the new state constitution?
Shortly after declaring independence from Great Britain, the Second Continental Congress called on each state to draw up a new constitution to protect every citizen’s individual rights and promote the common good. Between 1776 and 1780, the states adopted new constitutions, all containing the basic principles of higher law and natural rights, social contract, popular sovereignty, representation and the right to vote, legislative supremacy, and checks and balances. This was the first time that so many new governments had been created using these basic ideas, all centered around John Locke’s natural rights philosophy.
Each new state constitution reflected the idea that the purpose of government is to preserve and protect the citizen’s natural rights to life, liberty, and property. This was evident in the use of the principle of higher law. A higher law sets forth the basic rights of citizens and establishes the responsibility of the government to protect those rights. It establishes limitations on how those in government may use...

...The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution each had their own impacts on the United States economy. It can be shown that the drafting of the Constitution reversed the control of economic authority between the national government and the states, specifically regarding the laying and levying of taxes. The stipulations of taxation are clarified in the Articles and the Constitution through Article VIII and Article I, Section 8, respectively. Both statements provide for an easy analysis of taxation considering the means of taxation and how it is assessed, who collects the taxes, and the purpose of these duties. An additional observation can be made regarding the effects of slavery on the Constitution and how that is reflective of the economic impacts of the document. With the comparison of these aspects, a conclusion can be made about the reasoning behind the change of this provision in the Articles.
The American Revolution resulted in a substantial amount of debt for the United States. To finance the War of Independence, Congress had borrowed large sums of money by selling interest-bearing bonds and paying soldiers and suppliers in notes to be redeemed in the future (Foner, 200). The Continental Congress owed $42 million at the end of the revolution (Lecture #9). The states lacked a secure source of revenue, so they had to address taxation in their first written constitution, The...

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HUMN-405 Historical Essay #1: Confederation and ConstitutionConfederation and Constitution
After declaring independence the 13 American colonies needed a new government. Due to their experiences under the oppression of the British crown, the government the colonies created under the Articles of Confederation gave the individual states the majority of the power. The weaknesses inherent in the national government they created eventually lead to their replacement with the Constitution.
The Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution both provide for a free government. They also allow states the power to tax, regulate commerce, make laws, and provide for a common defense. Where the similarities of the two documents diverge is in the distribution of powers. The Articles made no provision for the new federal government to exercise any power over the individual states.
Under the Articles the national government could not collect taxes from the states, regulate trade, or impose federal laws. Many states printed their own money causing the value of the national currency to decline. There were states that placed tariffs on goods traded with other states. Amendment of the Articles required a unanimous vote and a two-thirds majority to pass any legislation. States had a single vote regardless of their population size. Further, the country lacked a...

..."The Constitution devotes the national domain to union, to justice, to defense, to welfare and to liberty" (Maier 154). This quote, stated by William Henry Seward, displays the strength and stability that the Constitution had over the nation, and the liberty and justice it supplied for all of its citizens. Although the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation have similarities, they have many differences, which proved that the Articles of Confederation were a weaker document in comparison. It can be said that the Articles were the "rough draft" to the final living document, which significantly influenced and "ruled" our government, as it still does today.
Because of their experience with Great Britain, the 13 states feared a powerful central government. For this reason, the Articles of Confederation, written in 1777, gave the states more control than the government. The Continental Congress had been careful to give the states as much independence as possible and to specify the limited functions of the federal government. "The national government would consist of a single house of Congress, where each state would have one vote. Congress had the power to set up a postal department, to estimate the costs of the government and request donations from the states, to raise armed forces, and to control the development of the western territories. With the consent of nine of the...